In results for the year to June posted to the NZX, the company reported revenues of $639m for the year, down nearly a third from 2021. No dividend was announced, but hopes were expressed payments to shareholders could resume next year.
"Obviously it depends on earnings, and we want to get the business back to where we were in 2019 - the board then will have the decision on how to deal with dividends," Ahearne said.
Revenue at the company's Auckland headquarters, whose extensive complex of entertainment venues accounts for most of its earnings, slumped 32.3 per cent to $330.6m and its contribution to ebitda halved to $100.9m.
Auckland experienced a long-running lockdown in the second half of last year that shut or suppressed public-facing businesses in the city. The company said lockdowns led to its Auckland facility being closed for 107 days during the period.
SkyCity's casino in Adelaide - which last month became the subject of inquiry by South Australian state authorities into compliance with anti-money laundering laws - fared better but still posted revenues of $184.5m, down 6.3 per cent for the year.
The bright spot for the company last year came from its foray into online gaming and e-sports, which bucked wider trends and increased revenues by 21.5 per cent to $17m. The segment has much higher margins than the physical side of the business, with ebitda there increasing 77 per cent to $14.5m.
At the end of 2021 SkyCity paid $42m for an 11 per cent stake in European operator Gaming Innovation Group. The management presentation accompanying the results flagged this as a "significant omnichannel opportunity" potentially worth more than $350m.
Ahearne flagged SkyCity would continue to lobby the Minister of Internal Affairs for better oversight of online gambling operators in New Zealand - a move that would crimp SkyCity's offshore competitors.
"This really needs to be regulated, from a harm point of view and from a tax perspective, and it's important we have high-quality operators there," he said.
Shocks of the past few years had resulted in waivers to cover breaches of banking covenants sought and granted, with results flagging these extended out to December. The company said it expected to meet covenant restrictions by the end of the year, which would put it in a position to be able to resume dividend payments.
The company said it remained committed to its existing dividend policy where the bulk of normalised net profit would be paid to shareholders.
The troubled International Convention Centre and hotel project, whose construction site was ravaged by a major fire in 2019, was said to be on track to meet its revised schedule and open in 2025.
Ahearne said the roof of the NZICC was on track to be installed in October and said the facility was already attracting bookings for 2026 and 2027, "which is really encouraging".
"We're confident it will do what it was meant to do: driving visitation to not only SkyCity, but also to New Zealand," he said.
The company had claimed $27.2m in wage subsidies over the past two years, but in June 2021 had agreed to repay $6.7m to the New Zealand government - two-thirds of the sum it had received by that date.
Normalised ebitda of $137.1m was in line with the company's updated earnings guidance provided to the market in June.
Revenue results from the past three months in New Zealand were comparable to pre-Covid levels, the company said, with management saying it expected normalised ebitda for the next year to be broadly in line with that of 2019.
Just prior to posting results, SkyCity announced directors Jennifer Owen and Sue Suckling would be retiring from the board at the company's annual general meeting in October.
Owen and Suckling had, respectively, been directors since 2016 and 2011.
